Monthly Archives: February 2013

Any Book that starts with that opening line and goes on to describe its main character being robbed “same time, same place” every Wednesday by a Tramp/undercover KGB agent, cannot fail to grab your attention.

This is a trick that seasoned authors regularly fail to utilize effectively and set the tone for the rest of this fine book. That the author, Nixon, keeps up this level of attention grabbing and sheer entertainment for the next 200-odd pages is to his credit. It’s a difficult thing to sustain pace of this intensity in this kind of novel without confusing or overwhelming the reader but Nixon pulls it off skilfully. The first person narrative used is spot on. I normally detest this sort of narrative but Nixon’s use of this perspective lends the book a nervous, edgy feel and enhances the feeling of action.

Keith takes a main character in Josh Dedman who’s a bit pathetic and should be utterly unlikable (and would be lesser hands) and has you laughing along, shaking your head and cheering the cynical bastard on; mostly because his man voices your own twisted thoughts and makes you grin at them. There are elements of early Carl Hiassen insight and humour in this book as well as a pinch of Brookmyre intelligence in the plot. The last book I enjoyed with this kind of pace (and finished also in record time) was Incompetence by Rob Grant . The Fix shares Incompetence’ irreverent and very accurate observations of the world it’s set in but despite these observations, never descends into a rant.

I’d read another of this author’s books in a heartbeat and would recommend this novel to anyone. No matter which genre you frequent, go hang around with Josh in Margate, you’ll be glad you did.

If words were drugs, and Keith Nixon my local dealer, you’d find my sweating presence waiting for my man on a street corner.Buy The Fix now on Amazon